


Aquarian Jigsaw

by MicroKitty1313



Series: Mer! AU [1]
Category: Free!
Genre: Depression, Developing Relationship, He's such a good friend, Kisumi is a doll, M/M, Not your typical mer fic, Suicide Attempt, Tragedy, mer!sousuke
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-02
Updated: 2016-10-02
Packaged: 2018-08-19 02:11:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8185037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MicroKitty1313/pseuds/MicroKitty1313
Summary: AU in which Rin has no friends to support him, to help him push toward his goal. Sousuke has never seen a human with such poorly hidden despair showing through their dulled eyes.
In short, a story about a man who's lost all hope and a merman that doesn't want to involve himself with humans AT ALL.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Music: Apocalyptica - Sea Song

_“Dad, will you tell me a story?”_

_“Don’t I tell you one every night?”_

_“Tell me about how you trained really hard to go to the Olympics”_

_“We do that one all the time. How about a different one tonight?”_

_Rin smiled, snuggling further down into his sheets and comforter while his father sat on the edge of the bed._

_“Not everyone believes in Merfolk, but I do, and this is one of my favorite stories.” he reaches over to brush a few burgundy strands out of Rin’s face. “Once, there was a young merman who the others thought of as too adventurous for his own good. He would often leave the safety of the ocean to walk along the land, exploring the beaches and watching humans, though he kept his distance. He-”_

_“Wait.. If he’s a merman, how was he walking?” Rin’s brow furrowed._

_His father softly chuckled, “I guess I got ahead of myself. I don’t think of merfolk as most others do. There aren’t ‘sea witches’ that give them legs and they can’t get washed up on shore and stuck there. All merfolk have the ability to grow legs, well… kinda. If they aren’t fully immersed in water, then their tails dissolve while human legs form.”_

_“It wasn’t always this way, it’s a trait that evolved over-time to keep merfolk from dying out whether it be from getting stuck on land or if they need to leave the water to hunt for another food source. Anyway, as long as they revisit the ocean at least once within a two week period then they will always regrow their tail when they enter the water again. But, if they fail to do this, then they lose that ability forever.”_

_“So… mermaids know how things work on land?” Rin tries to sit up, becoming excited and eager to investigate into this theory, but his father presses his palm against Rin’s chest and eases him back down._

_“Not entirely. They study humans from afar but never get involved with them. As we both know, human’s tend to destroy things - each other, the earth, **the ocean** , so merfolk don’t think too highly of humans at all.”_

_Rin frowns, “But not all people are like that”._

_Toraichi nods, lowering his voice to a whisper as if his words were a secret meant for only Rin to hear, “And not all merfolk think humans are bad”._

_“So, this merboy, he was curious about humans and would often stay on land, hidden away, to watch people for hours. His parents would always scold him when he would finally return home but he never stopped going to visit the surface. One day, as the sun was beginning to set and the shore was quiet, all of the people having left to go do whatever it was they did in their shelters, the merboy caught sight of a being so beautiful he felt as though his heart had stopped.”_

_Rin rolls his eyes, “Jeez, dad! Is this a love story? Those are so_ boring _!”_

_His father smiles, warm and soft, “You won’t always feel that way, son. Romance is something that can make even the cruelest man melt. Whether it be from the brilliance of the moon and stars shining from their perch in the sky, the laughter of a close friend or the tenderness of a touch from the one they love, romance is everywhere… And you know something? Only the bravest men will look for it in the little things that happen every day. It’s special and not everyone gets the chance to see it”._

_“Whatever you say” Rin purses his lips together in a pout._

_“She was breathtaking. Her eyes scorched through him with their fierce radiance. They were captivating and almost threatening, burning and glowing in a way that rivaled the sun itself.” Toraichi sighs, “But they were soft and kind all the same.” he reaches over to rub his thumb along Rin’s cheekbone, “Close your eyes, this story is suppose to put you to sleep, not keep you awake”._

_Once Rin had allowed his lashes to flutter down, Toraichi continued, “Silky, rose colored locks were swept up in the wind when their eyes met, making her hair whisper over the fair skin of her face.” his chestnut eyes shimmer in the low light of Rin’s bedside lamp, “The merboy knew enough to at least be embarrassed that he was unclothed, his temporary human lower-half completely exposed which is something he’d never seen any of the people he watches do, but he couldn’t tear his gaze away from her’s long enough to even think about running back to the water”._

_“The girl began walking to the rocky ledge where the merboy had been hiding and he was terrified. He was so scared he couldn’t breathe but in a split second, she lost her footing and fell. She was swallowed up by the rough waves crashing just beneath them. There was no hesitation when the merboy dove in after her, pushing the water away with his arms while he waited the few moments for the flesh of his legs to break away, his muscles and tendons to fuse together and his shark-like skin to grow back.”_

_“His gill slits hadn’t even opened back up before he had the girl wrapped in his arms and was returning her to the surface. He stayed submerged up to his chest in the water while the girl coughed and sputtered, eyeing him cautiously. Once she could finally speak, again the merboy found himself hypnotized by her. ‘Thank you’, she said, ‘I can’t swim’”._

_“The boy cleared his throat, ‘Then why did you get so close to the edge?’, he asked. The girl-”_

_Rin lazily cracks one eye open, “How could they understand each other?” he mumbles._

_“Merfolk realized that learning to speak the same language as the land dwellers around them would be useful if they ever found themselves in a situation where they needed to communicate. The older merpeople usually only still spoke with clicks, growls and whistles while also using the water to talk, sending small swirling currents with the flick of their tails or the wave of a hand. The younger, and by that I mean the ones under the age of one hundred, often used actual words along with their native speak”._

_Rin hums, partially asleep._

_“Anyway, they talked for a long while, until the girl said it was time for her to go home but they agreed to meet again the next day. They did, and every day after for months. The merboy eventually fell in love with the human girl and made the decision to leave the ocean for good so that he could be with her. They married young, or at least… that’s what the girl said, the boy told her it was common for merfolk to marry at his age.”_

_“They lived in a small apartment, both working poor paying jobs but happy nonetheless. The end.” Toraichi slowly stands up and takes one step toward the door._

_“Dad? What happened to them after that? Didn’t the merman miss his family? Miss the ocean?”_

_Rin’s father laughs and turns back to the bed, moving to lean down and kiss Rin’s forehead, “I’ll tell you the rest when I get back. Goodnight, Rin. I need to go tuck your sister in. I have to head to the docks in a few hours”._

_“You promise? It’s really a good story. I think it’s my favorite now, too..”_

_“I promise.” he smiles, “Now_ sleep _. Your mothers going to kill me for letting you stay up so late. I love you, son”._

_Rin grins, lacking his normal energy due to his exhaustion, “Love you too, dad”._

_Rin never got to hear the end of the story from his father, because he never saw him again._

Rin blinks away the tears swelling in his eyes, tucking his hair behind his ear only for the wind to blow it back into his face. There is just a sliver of sun left on the horizon, sending and orange glow across the swells of the darkening water before him. It makes for a pretty picture, but one that Rin didn’t want to see under these circumstances.

It’s a familiar sight, he’s visited the beach at least four times a week since his return. It’s somewhere he feels safe to let his guard down, let the mask fall and allow himself to just think. Well, maybe thinking wasn’t the best thing for him to do at this point in his life but it’s far too late now. He’s made sure that he kept his burdens and his worries all to himself.

He’d only been back in Japan for a month, but that was much longer than his heart could take. He was a disappointment and he’d shamed his family and the memory of his father. He was so sure he could accomplish what he set out to do. He just knew that the next time he saw his mother and his sister that they would be overflowing with pride. He could take his gold medal when he visited his father’s gravestone and…

A broken sob causes Rin to cover his mouth, glancing around to make sure he was alone. The beach was quiet and void of any people, aside from Rin himself - which he is thankful for. He swallows down a whimper as he sits down and begins to unlace his shoes.

He strips down until all he’s left in is his faded jeans and he stands again, brushing the damp sand from his hands. He neatly folds his shirt and sets it on top of his shoes, socks tucked away inside of them, then takes one last look around to make sure there aren’t any stragglers he overlooked the first time.

He takes a deep breath, running his fingers through his hair and takes his first step toward the sea. ‘ _Romantic_ ’ he thinks, his lips curling into a bitter smile. The sand crunches under his feet as he approaches the waters edge, the cool remnants of a wave laps at his skin as it rolls onto the shore and he only pauses for a moment to shake his head of any second thoughts before continuing his journey.

The water is blissfully chilled in just the right way to contrast with the humidity left over from the day. He ducks under briefly to wet his hair and push it back once he’s chest deep. He twists around, looking over his shoulder to scan the coastline he’d just left. It was dark enough now that he couldn’t even make out where he left his belongings.

He faces forward again and begins to swim farther out, rotating his arms and kicking his legs with all the strength he has left. He stops well after he’s sure he couldn’t reach the bottom even if he tried, treading the water. Then, he stops. He relaxes his muscles, letting his arms slowly drift below the surface as his body follows.

Luminous beams of light take on an almost blue hue underwater, dancing and shifting through the murky liquid above. ‘ _Maybe the water will take me, too_ ’, Rin thinks, closing his eyes as he sinks deeper.

_Rin bites the inside of his cheek, rubbing circles on his little sisters back while she weeps into her pillow. He wants to tell her ‘Don’t cry’ and ‘It’ll be alright’ but he won’t and he may be young but he’s old enough to know that something like this, this pain, can’t be eased with stupid words._

_“I want daddy!” Gou howls, voice muffled by her pillow._

_Rin clenches his teeth, forcing down his own cries because he wan’t the same thing, “Once, there was a young merman who the others thought of as too adventurous for his own good…”_

_He omits all of the explanations he’d asked from his father, Gou wouldn’t care about any of that, and he tries to recite the story, word-for-word, because this is as much for him as it is for Gou. Speaking the last words his father ever said to him feels like he’s keeping him alive in a way. Like these precious words are conjuring up his spirit and he’s there with them, sitting on the edge of the bed, using his voice to lull them to sleep._

_Gou’s tears finally stop, listening to Rin with her eyes closed and for a few short minutes it’s as if they never got the heartbreaking news that day. Like it was a normal night, and Gou was just being restless, and their father would be walking through the door before they even opened their eyes the next morning._

_When Rin reaches the last of the tale, he trails off and sniffs, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. Gou is fast asleep so he quietly stands, gently moving the blankets up to his sisters shoulders and leaves her room, flipping her nightlight on before pulling the door almost shut._

_“You told it perfectly” his mothers soft voice whispers._

_Rin wants to smile and tell her ‘Thank you’ but he just doesn’t have it in him right now. He’s put on a brave face, been a big boy to make his dad proud, but there is only so much a seven year old can take and he’s reached his breaking point. It’s his turn to go to his room and cry into his pillow. To wish and hope and pray that this is a terrible nightmare and if he just calls out for him, his father will come running into his room to chase the monsters away._

_“He..” his voice cracks. He exhales slowly and tries again, “Dad never finished the story. I don’t know what happens after they get married”._

_Rin’s mother smiles at him, the same loving smile it’s always been, but tonight her face is pained, and her crushed soul is on full display in her eyes. She takes Rin by the hand and leads him to his bedroom, motioning towards the bed. She tucks him in, then sits on the edge._

_“They were happy. Happy with their small apartment, dead-end jobs and life in general. How could they not be happy? They had each other. Against all odds, an amazing, caring, funny, handsome merman and regular human girl found each other and fell in love. They could live the rest of their lives together and nothing could be better than that.”_

_“The merman had a passion for swimming, which might not sound all that strange but merfolk aren’t naturally gifted in the water with their human legs. But, he worked hard and became amazing enough that it caught peoples attention”._

_“Where did he swim at?” Rin asks._

_“Ah. He managed to become friends with a man who was the owner of a building just like your Iwatobi Swim Club. Eventually he wanted to make a career out of swimming. The girl supported him because if there is one thing the merman taught her, it was that anything is possible. He trained as often as he could and it looked like his dream was going to become a reality! But then, everything changed.”_

_Rin grasps his covers, pulling them up to his chin and eyebrows knitting together._

_“The girl found out she was going to have a baby. She was worried about this because she thought that the merman might think that the she and the child were a burden but when she told him, he cried he was so happy. He quit swimming and instead found a better paying job so that they could buy a bigger house for their growing family.”_

_“They were wrong before, when they thought things couldn’t get any better because when that child was born,” She pauses, laughing and shaking her head, “the merman was the happiest the girl had ever seen, and so was she. They eventually had another child and spent many wonderful days together, watching their children grow and falling more in love with each other every passing day. The end”._

_Rin sits up in his bed, “But, what happened after that? Did their kids ever find out about their dad? Did the kids have special magical powers or something?”_

_His mother sighs, eyes glimmering. She is quiet for a while before she finally speaks again, “When your father told me this story, he said that he believed that with merfolk, even ones that left the ocean to live their lives as human, they would return to the sea one day. That’s what I think happened in the end, the water claimed the merman and returned him to his home, to become a part of the water. Your father said that when that happens, if it was someone very close to you that you loved dearly, you can feel their presence in the water.”_

_“As for the children, they were humans, but they were amazing. They were the most wonderful children anyone could ever ask for. You don’t have to be a magical creature to be special. Just look at you and your sister, barely out of diapers and your futures already shine brighter than the sun”._

_“Mom,” Rin frowns, “I’ve been out of diapers for a long time”._

_“Only a few years. One thing you’ll learn in life is that the older you get, the shorter the days become. Time only speeds up and you find yourself wishing you’d taken the time to enjoy every single second you had growing up. It’s time to go to sleep. I love you very much, Rin. Things will be hard for a while, but we have to push through. Your father would want that”_

Rin’s eyes snap open and his lungs burn. His body reacts on it’s own, clawing up, trying to make it back to the surface. It feels like his chest is filled with coals and his muscles begin to cramp.

’ _Stop fighting_ ’ he tells himself but his brain his on auto-pilot now, his body’s need for survival is overruling him. He’d always heard that before you drown you experience a sense of euphoria but this was agony. 

Suddenly, he’s being swept away and he can only imagine he’s attracted the attention of hungry ocean predators with all this thrashing around so a shark is probably working on ripping his leg off right now, he just can’t feel it through the adrenaline.

He can’t explain being slammed onto a rock hard enough that water pours from his mouth, out of his lungs, and he is looking up at the clear night sky again. He coughs and wretches, his traitorous body expelling the liquid that was only trying to ease his pain.

He thinks he hears a voice by his side and manages to move his eyes and focus on the figure next to him. The sea-foam green that stares back at him is shocking and under any other circumstances he might have reacted properly but more pressing matters are pulling his better judgment right now.

The face belonging to those eyes is handsome, stunningly so. Tan skin taut over a strong jaw and prominent cheekbones. Lips full and luscious that look to be in a permanent pout. And dark hair a stark contrast to the brilliant color of his eyes.

His chest heaves as he gasps in more oxygen and he blinks slowly, his eyes raw and dry from the saltwater. When he opens them again, the man that saved him is gone. Maybe he went for help? Rin hopes he didn’t, it would only further his desperation if his mother and sister found out about this.

His breathing regulates and his eyes flutter shut.

He’ll need to find the asshole that pulled him back to shore.


End file.
